friends to the rescue

Bobbie Sue was my babysitter when she was in high school. She and her younger sister Billie have been helping me in so many ways for years. Anytime, I have been in the hospital, or needed someone to watch the children Billie and Bobbie have stepped in.

They are very dear to me. Bobbie had a fire at her house Sunday due to a tree falling and hitting a line, and then hitting her house. They came home within minutes of it started and no major damage was done to their home.

Things have been restored, and they are back in their home with power, and water, I might add. Bobbie called to check on me yesterday, and i told her we were completely without water. So she invited and i down for a bath party. After school, I loaded up a van full of children and tons of dirty clothes.

We started Bobbies' washing machine, and then we started her bathtub. It felt so good to take a hot shower. In all 8 of us got cleaned up, and i did 4 loads of laundry. I left Ashley to spend the night with Bobbie since she still isn't up for school, and they were planning to watch movies last night and have a laundry party and finish my laundry.

Ben is going to pick up Ashley and my laundry, on his way home from work tonight. I am praying our water will be restored today. It seems when they turned the power back on yesterday, they discovered, one of the pumps had burnt up because of all the power surges...

The tower is completley empty, and will take time to refill, hopefully, they will have the pump replaced, and the water back on tonight...

We are having to haul buckets of water in to flush the toliets, and wash dishes, We prepared for this contingency, but really don't like it. It is raining today, and so the buckets we have emptied are strategically placed for maximum run-off.

Granny is pleased, she raised my right, but wondered outloud when did i stop being a native californian, and turn into an okie? Maybe the fact that everyone that raised me was country folk helped in that, and all my life, i listened to stories of how things were done, and i guess to my credit , i listened and remembered...i only wish i had that to ask questions...as a child it seemed like ancient history, not things that would one day be relevant to me and my children...

My ob/gyn has no other patients with a large family, i have the most children and pregnancies of anyone she has delivered...they have been saying i am of advanced maternal age since i was 37, if i become pregnant again does that make me of ancient maternal age at 44? For some reason, that irritates me...

She has sent me to consult with a perinatalogist twice during my last 3 pregnancies, and he said he had first time moms' older than i am , and was not concerned..

I am not making an announcement of any kind, there are days when i miss having a tiny baby, and there are days when i don't. I guess thats' normal.

I have days when the sheer insanity of dealing with toddlers and teenagers, make me want to pull someones hair. I am not certain which age can be more unreasonable...especially when the teenager is arguing with the toddler.

Things are looking up today, i still don't have any water, but last night, i had a lovely hot shower, and brought home clean children and 4 loads of laundry, and the dirty laundry i left will be returned, tonight, clean and folded. That is a good thing...because there are probably 10 more loads of laundry lurking in my laundry room...things that were not deemed urgent...